


Fixing the Failure

by Hellaoldfander86



Series: Fixing the Failure [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on a Tumblr Post, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-28 20:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14457231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellaoldfander86/pseuds/Hellaoldfander86
Summary: It was a "fail-safe". Put in motion for the good of Thomas, so they all believed.Catastrophic failure on every ones part.Now Virgil is alone, and has no idea how to fix it.Or does he?





	1. Only the Lonely

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Just in Case](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/376212) by virmillion. 



Virgil stalked the rooms of the mind palace restlessly. The “weather” outside reflecting what Thomas was feeling, which currently was sorrow, as demonstrated by the rain and wind currently raging outside in the mindscape. It has been like that for at least two days, but Virgil does not hear it anymore.

“It was supposed to protect Thomas!” Virgil muttered. It was a fail safe plan to cover all possible scenarios. They divided up their attributes equally between the 4 of them (or so they believed), so any of the others could pick up when one failed to do his part, without telling Thomas they were doing it.

Failure on their part number one.

It was a success and a failure at the same time. When Patton dissipated, then Roman, the horror of what they had done slowly dawned upon Virgil and Logan. They were no longer unique, they were carbon copies, and the mind was reabsorbing the sides no longer needed since just one could basically do all of the jobs now. It was just a matter of which one would be “the last side standing” so to speak.

Failure on their part number two.

Logan and Virgil could only wait helplessly as they knew only one would be left, and Virgil was suddenly all alone one day. Their worst case scenario coming to a painful, lonely reality.

When Thomas had learned of the so-called plan, it was already too late, and the fateful day when he called all the sides and only Virgil appeared, he could feel the sadness Thomas felt like a dagger to the heart. The rain hasn’t stopped since.

He walked through commons restlessly, not stopping anywhere. He couldn’t bear to walk into the kitchen, that was where Patton would bake cookies and prepare the meals. He didn't need to eat anyway, he reasoned. The main room was out of the question too. It felt cold and empty without Roman sitting on the couch singing along to a Disney movie, or Logan sitting in a chair sipping his coffee reading his ever present book or filling out crossword puzzles. He couldn’t bear to even take a nap in the common room anymore. He missed them all, and so did Thomas.

Virgil bounded up the stairs to the bedrooms, taking two at a time and looked down the hall and took note of each door. They were all still there, since the rooms were basically the separate realms of logic, morality and creativity and anxiety and couldn’t be condensed.

He strode up to what was once Romans room, laying a hand flat on the ornate door and rested his forehead on the intricately carved wood. He could go into the imagination and possibly try to conjure them up, but it wouldn’t be them. They would be fake, empty copies. They wouldn’t have Patton's warmth or Roman’s “EXTRA ness” or even Logan’s calm confidence. No life, no light in their eyes, just fake, empty copies conjured for his selfish needs. What about Thomas?

“What about Thomas?” Virgil mumbles, rubbing his fingers along the intricate carvings of Roman’s door. Thomas has been and always will be the main focus. It is his job now to keep Thomas creative, organized and happy.

He lets himself hear the howling storm outside.

”I can’t even do that right!” He growls, pushing off from the door and backing into the wall with a small thud, sliding down to sit on the floor, burying his face in his hands.

One side can’t do everything! We were a team! We helped each other! We were famILY! Virgil sighs and looks up at Roman’s door, with its carved woodland and fairytale creatures, blinks back tears, and gathers himself to get up. He could sure use a hug from Patton right now, he thinks sadly before rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands and takes a deep breath. “I need to make Thomas’ schedule for next week.” Virgil mumbles as he gets up off the floor, thinking that is as good as any other reason to do something else other than contemplate his current situation any further.

“I need some paper and a pen” he says to himself, “ I guess it’s a good thing Logan’s room didn’t disappear, ‘cause I still suck at conjuring stuff.” Virgil sighs and walks over to Logan’s door. He lays a hand on the plain, wooden door and takes a deep breath. He drops his hand to the doorknob and turns it, opening the door and stepping into the room and looking around, since the light in the room was already on. 

The room smells of old books and coffee, with Logan’s glasses on the desk beside the door and the bed neatly made. Large bookshelves dominate the space with more floating shelves above the desk. The realization hits Virgil hard as he stares at Logan's glasses. Logan was sitting at the desk when he was reabsorbed. He is nearly overcome with renewed loneliness and sadness once again. “Thomas needs me to do this!” He says to himself, making it his mantra.

He suddenly realizes Thomas can feel his emotions, and uses his breathing exercises to try to calm down. “Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds” he internally chants, while doing the breathing, until some semblance of calm is finally achieved. He sits at the desk, carefully moves Logans glasses out of the way, and opens a drawer, finding paper and a pen. He pulls them out, and begins to work.

After filling out Thomas’ (tentative) schedule, Virgil tried to brainstorm some ideas for videos, emphasis on tried. Virgil pinches the bridge of his nose and yawns as he pulls out his phone and looks at the time. “Holy crap! It’s getting close to Thomas’ bedtime! Not that he’s been able to sleep since…” Virgil winces and takes a deep breath and stretches his arms above his head. 

Rising out of the chair, he stretched the kinks out of his back and sets his phone on the desktop. He doesn’t want to go to his room, but he hasn't really slept very well, since inspiration comes at all hours it seems. He has no idea how Roman did it but he doesn’t mind, it’s hard to sleep with a broken heart.

Virgil walks over to Logan’s bed, and kicks off his shoes. He no longer needs his hoodie, which is currently on his bed in his room where he left it after Logan “left”. 

Deeming himself warm enough in his tee shirt and ripped jeans, he didn’t bother with the blankets or bedspread, and just stretched out on top of the bed, with his hands behind his head, and dozes off smelling old books and coffee, feeling calmer than he has in days, while the storm in the mindscape lessens to a light drizzle instead of the howling tempest it had been for two days.


	2. Shards of Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil has an unexpected visitor.

Virgil floated in a dreamless white cloud. It felt warm and comfortable, and he didn’t want to wake up, But a familiar voice penetrated his dreamless comfort, one he shouldn’t be hearing.

“Virgil?, Virgil, open your eyes, I need to talk to you.” “LOGAN?!” Virgil’s eyes flew open, and he shot up on the bed immediately, mouth hanging open. Logan sat in the chair of his desk, arms crossed, with a serious look on his face. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. “Now that I have your attention, you need to listen carefully to me..” “How can you be here?!” Virgil blurts out, finally finding his voice after recovering from the shock.

“Yes, well, you do remember that we are not truly gone, Virgil. We were reabsorbed by Thomas’s mind. You came to that conclusion yourself just before it was my turn to go. You should also remember that when we divided our attributes, we became a part of each other, so we are still with you, in a sense.” Logan explained.

Virgil thought for a moment, and did remember that he did come to that conclusion, it just seemed so long ago when he had thought about it, since he was still mourning the “loss” of Patton at the time. “Oh, yeah..” Virgil murmured. “But it’s not the same.” Virgil sniffed and wiped stray tears from his face with his hand.

“I am aware of that.” Logan softly says. He clears his throat and continues, adjusting his tie, “There is very little time, and I need to tell you what you need to know before Thomas wakes up, which could be soon. It was fortuitous that you chose to sleep in my room, I wouldn’t have been able to contact you otherwise. It is where my shard is, and I am the best one to tell you what you need to do with it.”

“Shard?” Virgil asks. 

“Yes. Shard. A completely pure piece of logic. It is somewhere in my room. You will know it when you see it.” Logan explains, “There are shards of creativity, morality, even anxiety. They have been hidden in our rooms ever since the beginning.” “It will be the best way to re-materialize us. The shards can act as a magnetic force to pull in the corresponding energy, a morality, logic and creativity tractor beam tuned to each side, so to speak.”

“So, you want me to find the shards in each of the rooms?” Virgil asks. “Even mine?”

“Yes.” Logan nods. “You will need it to pull in your stray energy. If you do not, you may become unstable and dissipate. We can’t have that.” Logan says, smoothing his tie.

“What am I supposed to do with the shards after I have found them all?” Virgil asks, shifting to a cross-legged position, facing Logan.

Logan looks down and rubs his hands on his legs, and finally says, “This is where it gets dangerous. You will have to go to the subconscious.” Logan looks up at Virgil and sees a look of determination. “Whatever it takes to get you all back is worth the risk!” Virgil says with all the conviction in his body. “Anything!”

“Excellent!” Logan says. “Oh, I also think you should enlist the help of Thomas when the trip to the subconscious begins. You will need his help to reform our energy. He is the one who first created our “looks” to begin with.” Logan gives Virgil a knowing look, adjusting his glasses once more.

Virgil nods in agreement. “Yeah. I know exactly what you mean. He will be definitely be all for it. He misses you guys too.” Logan gives a small smile, and stands up, putting his hands on Virgil’s shoulders, giving them a squeeze, looking him in the eyes. “Remember what I have told you. This is the only logical course of action you can take. Remember, you will know the shards when you see them, and good luck!” 

Virgil wakes up with a start, suddenly confused. Wasn’t he just talking to Logan? “It was a dream”, he sighs. It makes sense, the only logical way to contact him since he had no corporeal body would be through dreaming. Virgil runs a hand over his face and recalls the dream. He needs to find the shards. “I will know them when I see them” he murmurs, while putting on his shoes and looking around the room. He suddenly gets an idea, and hops off the bed and walks over to the light switch. “Energy should glow!” he states and turns off the light. He blinks for the couple of minutes it takes for his eyes to adjust, and looks around the pitch black room.

“Hmm...nothing..wait!” Virgil gets the idea since the shard is pure logic, it may react to logical thoughts. He scans the room while thinking of the debate he had with Logan, Virgil recalling everything Logan said. A glimmer of light catches his eye up high, and he switches on the light only to be temporarily blinded, but he didn’t move his head. Blinking to re adjust his eyes, a small box high up on a shelf above the desk comes into focus.

Virgil steps up on the chair, to the desk, and just barely reaches the small box. He clutches it to his chest, and jumps down to examine the box. It is plain, with a clear top, and something in the box glimmers with a royal blue light. He lifts the top and pulls out the object. 

It is a perfect 3D crystalline replica of Logan’s logo, the brain with glasses, that fits easily in the palm of his hand. The royal blue light pulses as he lifts it up to his eyes to get a good look, and he swears he can hear Logan’s voice softly say, “Excellent!” Virgil smiles, and puts the shard back into the box for safekeeping. One down, three to go.

He exits Logan’s room, and heads for Patton’s. This one may be more difficult. If it is like Logan’s it is the heart with glasses logo, but where could it be hidden? Patton’s room is a collection of memories of all shapes and sizes. Virgil reaches the door and puts his hand on the knob. He has to think about morality to make it glow, so he clears his mind and opens the door and steps in.

A low glow lights the room as small dancing light particles float about the room. Virgil begins thinking of Patton, his laugh, his smile, puns, dad jokes, his magnificent hugs. A flash of light blue light catches his eye and he turns toward it. Another small box, high up on a shelf above the headboard of the bed.Makes sense, Virgil muses, how many times does he look up in a day? He hops up on the bed, reaching for the glowing small box. He jumps back down and opens it up to find the crystal 3D heart with glasses logo, exactly the same size as Logan’s. Holding it in his bare hand, he clearly hears the sweet sound of Patton’s voice softly saying “Miss ya, kiddo!” and Virgil whispers “Miss you too, Dad.” “I’m gonna get you back!”

He drops the shard back into its box, and exits Patton’s room. He goes back to Logan’s room and sets Patton’s shard box on the desk next to Logan’s. Two down. Which one to go for next?

He makes the decision to go for his last, so he heads for Roman’s room.

Once again, Virgil is before the beautiful carved door to Roman’s room. He takes a deep breath, and murmurs to himself “Think EXTRA thoughts!” and opens the door. A large four post canopy bed greets him draped in red and gold, with a not-lit fireplace and a HUGE white vanity. A large, oaken door takes up one wall, and Virgil assumes that is the door to the imagination. Virgil scans the room while thinking of Disney, showtunes, and every nickname Roman called him that he can remember.

A red glow flashes on the pommel of one of the crossed decorative swords over the fireplace. Virgil walks over and examines it, and realizes that it is a 3D crystal creativity logo, and can simply be unscrewed from the sword. He does so, and the shard begins to glow red more steadily, and he hears a soft “Outstanding!” in Roman’s voice. “Hiya Princey” Virgil murmurs. As he turns to exit the room and get the last shard in his room.

Virgil strides to his room and wonders, his shard may be harder to find. He doesn’t have any high shelves or decorative pieces in his room, that he can remember. The others probably were unaware such important artefacts were even in their rooms to begin with, since they were in such inconspicuous places.

He stands before his purple ombre door, and takes a deep breath. Here goes nothing! " You WERE anxiety, you should still remember to think like it.” Virgil says to himself. He opens the door, and pulls forward the anxious thoughts he knows by heart. His heart races, his eyes flick left and right, looking for the telltale flash of light as he examines his room, panic beginning to stir in the back of his mind, when he spots the purple glow in the eyes of the black harlequin mask on his wall. “Of course!” he murmurs. Relief washes over him as he takes the mask off the wall and takes out the crystal 3D thundercloud with a single lightning bolt zigzagging out the bottom. That mask has been on his wall as long as he can remember, it’s the only logical place it could have been, Well, that and under his bed, which gave Virgil an involuntary shudder.

Back in Logan’s room Virgil was able to find a box that fit all the shards. He set the box on the desk and smiled. All four glowed in their signature colors, royal blue, light blue, red and purple. A flutter of hope and excitement shot through his body. Now he has to tell Thomas the plan.

Right on time, he feels the pull of being summoned.


	3. Bringing the Boys Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan is set in motion

Virgil appeared in his usual spot on the stairs, holding the box of shards to show Thomas. Thomas stood in his usual spot looking a bit distracted. Virgil winced. His hunt for the shards may have sent some confusing emotions to him. No wonder he summoned Virgil.

“Uh, Thomas?” Virgil hesitantly asks.

“Huh? Oh, Virgil! Um...could you please tell me why in the past half hour or so, I have had the oddest feelings? You are all over the place, man! And I could have sworn I heard Patton’s, Logan’s and Roman’s voices.” Thomas stared at Virgil with wide eyes.

“Wow, These things must be real powerful.” Virgil mumbled. He cleared his throat. “Uh, would you believe me if I told you that I may have a way to bring them back?”

“Really? How?” Thomas asks.

Virgil takes a deep breath and looks Thomas in the eyes. “Logan came to me in a dream and told me about these.” Virgil shows Thomas the box with the shards in it. “He also said I should ask for your help, because I need to go to the subconscious to do this thing, “

Thomas looks at the shards in the box. “What are those?” Thomas asks. “They look like the Sanders Sides logos”

“These are called shards.” Virgil begins. “Each one of these is the completely pure essence of logic, morality, creativity and anxiety. Dream Logan said that these would be able to bring them back, and I believe him, but I am not completely sure how. Maybe when I get to the subconscious I will be able to figure it out.” 

Thomas stares at the shards for a moment, then looks up at Virgil. “How can I help?”

Virgil thinks for a moment. “Dream Logan said that you were responsible for how we look, since we took the forms of characters you had previously created, I think he meant for you to immerse yourself into the characters once more, to help them reform in the subconscious. I’m pretty sure it would make it a bit easier for the energy to reform if the conscious mind was concentrating solely on a single goal.”

Thomas thinks for a moment, then realization sets in. “Oh! You mean I should dress like all of them, and basically put all my energy on acting like them and thinking about them?”

Virgil nods. “Yeah. I believe that is what he meant. You still have the outfits?”

Thomas nods. “Absolutely! Are we going to do this one at a time? If so, I’m going to need at least a couple of minutes between to switch outfits.”

Virgil ponders for a moment. “I will have to do it one at a time, there is no way I will be able to do it any other way. I’m not sure how I will be able to let you know when to change characters. We should establish in what order we are going to bring them back, I think the order should be Patton, Logan, then Roman.”

Thomas looks thoughtful for a moment, then gives Virgil a puzzled look.

Virgil raises a finger “Let me explain that order. Patton first. Since I don’t know how this will affect me, Patton, being morality, feelings, and memories should go first. That leaves it easier for Logan, being logic, knowledge and deduction. That leaves Roman for last because we are going to need all the creativity, ego and imagination until the last moment. Plus, we don’t know what shape the guys will be in when they re-form, they could be out cold, or just weakened for a time, we can’t have creativity out cold when we need him the most, therefore, Roman’s last.”

“Oh, yeah.” Thomas says. “That sounds like a good plan. When are we going to start?”

“As soon as you can gather up the outfits.” Virgil states. “We are not going through one more day without them. I”m going back to the mind palace to get ready. You gather the outfits and anything else you think you will need. I’ll be back in 20 minutes.”

Thomas nods and gives Virgil a determined look. “20 minutes. Got it!”

Virgil sinks out, and Thomas runs up the stairs to his bedroom. He gathers up all the outfits, and goes downstairs and lay them out on the brown sectional. “Patton first.” Thomas mumbles. 

He dresses in the light blue polo with the heart logo, grey cat hoodie, khaki pants and Patton’s shoes. He grabs the black Warby Parker frames from the top of his breakfast bar and puts them on. “What else do I need?” He says to himself. “Oh! Yes!” He exclaims and grabs his laptop from the small kitchen table and powers it up.He pulls up the correct program and selects an audio file. Patton’s music that plays in the videos when he appears plays over the laptop speakers. Thomas grins. “Perfect!” He then pauses the music, sits down on the couch and waits for Virgil.

Virgil appears in his room in the mind palace. “I’m gonna need pockets.” he states and grabs his hoodie. Plus, the subconscious is a bit chilly. He should know, that is where he went when he “ducked out” (Quack) until he sensed the intrusion of the others in his room. 

He sets the box with the shards on his bed and he shrugs into his hoodie. He then puts the anxiety shard in his left pocket, and the others in his right pocket. “What else do I think I need?” Virgil narrows his eyes in thought. “Maybe if I had something of theirs it will make it easier..” He then leaves his room and gathers Logan’s glasses, and as an afterthought, one of his ties, a sash from Roman’s room, and Patton’s extra cat hoodie (he had Roman conjure an extra just in case after Logan gifted it to him). It was time.

Virgil appears on the stairs and sees Thomas dressed as Patton sitting on the sectional, which gives him a shot of courage. “‘We get him back today!” He thinks with conviction.

“Looks like you are all ready to go.” Virgil says. Thomas jumps in surprise. “Oh! Yeah. Ready when you are.”

“I still have no idea how I am going to let you know when to change outfits.” Virgil says.

Thomas thinks for a second and says in a thoughtful way, “Maybe since I am basically summoning them, they may appear here after they have re-formed. Giving me the sign I need to switch outfits.”

Virgil blinks. “I should have thought of that. Hopefully that’s the case. Give me 10 minutes to get to the subconscious, then go full Patton.”

Thomas bounces up from the sectional and says in Patton’s voice with a bright giggle, “Good Luck, kiddo!” Giving a double thumbs up and a bright, Patton-like smile.

Virgil gives a small smile and sinks out to the mind palace. Zipping up his hoodie and stuffing the cat hoodie down the front, sash, tie and glasses in his left pocket with his anxiety shard, and taking a deep breath, he heads for the way to the subconscious.

The door to the subconscious in the basement was grey and foreboding, but he pushed it open anyway. Virgil walks through and is greeted by swirling grey mists, whispers and a glow in the distance. As he walks, almost forgotten memories flash in the swirling mists, half-heard conversations whisper in his ears. It is dangerous to stay for too long, a side could be literally be forgotten if they weren't careful.

The glow in the distance gets brighter and brighter, and Virgil knows that’s where he needs to be somehow. He narrows his eyes and keeps walking, finally reaching the brightest part of the subconscious. A bright column of light glows in front of him. This is the place. Virgil pulls out the cat hoodie and drops it into the center of the light as a hunch and steps back. He pulls the the heart-shaped shard out of his right pocket and waits. Here goes nothing.

Thomas counts the minutes,and when 10 minutes is reached, he starts the music once more, Patton’s music plays from the speakers, and Thomas shouts to the empty living room, “PATTON POWER!!” Bouncing in place and clapping with a bright giggle, “Let’s do this, kiddo!” Thinking of dad jokes and puns, and all that is Patton.

The swirling mists around the column of light begin to pulse a light blue. Virgil takes that a sign and holds out the shard, and the artifact flares a pulsing light. Virgil steps forward until the shard is within the column of light, and the mists begin to swirl like a tornado, shrinking down and entering the column, and takes up the hoodie within the swirling, pulsating maelstrom.

They swirl and solidify into a human shape & the shard explodes with a “POP”, and suddenly, Patton is standing within the light column. His head is down, and he looks asleep.

Then Virgil remembers, he needs to give back the piece of morality that he has for Patton to be truly whole. He puts his hand flat on Patton’s chest noting the lack of a heartbeat with concern, and concentrates, and he feels the tingle of Patton’s energy rushing down his arm and into Patton. 

Virgil feels the comforting sensation of Patton’s heart starting to beat, when suddenly the father figure shudders, his eyes pop open and he gasps for air while falling to his hands and knees.

“Vir..gil?” Patton gasps breathlessly. “I’m here, Dad.” Virgil says. Patton nods then his head suddenly looks up. “Thom..as!” “Go to him, Pat.” Virgil says. Patton disappears.

Thomas felt a change, and suddenly, Patton appeared in his spot in front of the blinds, breathless, and on his hands and knees.”It’s working!” Thomas whispers. He quickly changes into Logan’s outfit, starts up Logan’s music, and declares “Let’s get logical!” while crossing his arms and adjusting the warby parkers just so.

Back in the subconscious, Virgil pulls out Logan’s shard, tie & glasses, and waits. The mists suddenly begin to pulse a dark blue, and thinking that the glasses may be too heavy, he drops the tie in the center of the light. Virgil once again holds out the shard and steps forward until the light hits it.

Another misty tornado forms, takes up the tie, and the shard once again explodes, and Logan appears in the column of light, just like Patton. Standing upright, looking asleep, but curiously with no glasses. Virgil gives a little smile as he slides the warby parkers onto Logan’s face, then lays his hand flat upon the still chest, and Logan’s energy flows back to where it belongs.

Logan’s eyes fly open as he gasps for air, dropping to his knees. He looks at Virgil with wide eyes, and says while still breathless, “I knew...you...could..do..it!” Virgil gives him a small smile, and says “I still have Princey to bring back, we’ll see.” Logan nods, then looks up. “Go to Thomas, Logan, I know you hear him calling you.” Virgil says tiredly. Logan disappears.

Thomas feels a distinct change and then Logan appears next to the stairs, on his knees, gasping for air like Patton was. “Logan!” he hears Patton shout, as the father figure runs over to Logan and helps him to the couch.Thomas smiles as Logan looks at him with wide eyes, since he is literally Logan’s twin. 

Thomas takes off the warby parkers and quickly switches to Roman’s outfit. Straightening the red sash, and making sure his hair was just right, he starts up Roman’s music on the laptop. Thomas assumes one of Roman’s signature poses, and with a flourish Thomas declares in Roman’s voice, “Let's get EXTRA!” then smiles a very Roman-like smile at the two recovering sides on the couch.

Virgil shoves his hands in his hoodie pockets and retrieves Roman's shard and sash. He feels the silky fabric with his thumb, and whispers “Your turn Princey.” And looks up to see the mists pulsing a bright red. He drops the sash in the center of the light, and takes a deep breath.

Once more, the shard is held within the light, the whirling tornado of red mist enters the light, taking up the sash, the artifact explodes, and Roman stands before Virgil. 

Virgil lays his hand on Roman's chest, and gives him back what is his. Roman’s eyes fly open, and he gasps for air, but he still stands upright, staring at Virgil. “Hiya Princey.” Virgil softly says. “Hot...topic?” Roman gasps. Virgil chuckles “Aw, you still think I'm hot.” Roman smiles and puts his hands on Virgil’s shoulders. Then blinks, looks up, and smiles again. “Thomas!” Roman whispers. Virgil smiles. “Go to him, Princey.” 

Thomas again feels a twinge, and Roman appears next to the television. Logan and Patton jump up from the couch to help Roman, and Thomas sighs in relief. He stops the music on the laptop, and looks at the three sides, happiness warming his heart and tears streaming down his face.

Virgil drops to his knees, all energy spent or given back to its rightful owner. He pulls out the last shard. His shard, and looks at it. It swirls with purple energy, and without thinking, he crawls on his knees into the column of light. 

He needs to reclaim his energy, the energy that was reabsorbed when the others dissipated. He holds out the artifact in both hands, and it flares a bright purple. A purple whirlwind suddenly engulfs him, he feels the energy entering him and filling him, and the shard explodes like the others. Virgil's eyes, glowing purple, snap closed, and he collapses to the ground, unconscious.


	4. FamILY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are back!

Thomas began taking off his Roman outfit, while Patton, Logan, and Roman continued to recover from their “reformation”

Patton suddenly looks around. “Uh, shouldn’t Virgil be back by now?” 

“He should, have you tried summoning him, Thomas?” Logan asks.

“Let me try.” Thomas says. Then he closes his eyes and concentrates. He opens his eyes and looks over at the still empty stairs, then looks over at the trio with wide eyes. “Has something happened to him?!” 

Logan’s eyes widen. “He must be unconscious, that’s the only time we can’t answer a summons. We have to go get him, we cannot leave him in the subconscious, It is dangerous enough when we have all our faculties. If he is incapacitated, he is in even greater danger.”

Roman jumps up from the couch. “I will go get him! I am the obvious choice, being skilled at daring rescues and all.’ Roman tugs on the bottom of his tunic to straighten any wrinkles, and smoothes his sash. 

Logan adjusts his glasses. “We will both go. Patton, you will go to the mind palace and get the couch ready for when we bring him back. Don’t worry, Thomas. We will let you know if we were successful.” Both Logan and Roman sink out. Patton turns to Thomas. “Don’t worry, kiddo. They will get to him in time.” and sinks out to ready the couch. Thomas whispers to an empty room “Don’t worry, right....”

Roman and Logan stride through the grey mists of the subconscious. Logan points “The light. That’s where he is. I remember a light when I re-formed.” Roman makes a sound of agreement, and increases the pace. 

Virgil teeters on the edge of consciousness, not knowing where he is. All he knows is that he is laying on something hard and cold, and it is awfully bright and his whole body tingles like pins and needles. He hears the footfalls of someone coming nearer, and he wants to raise one of his arms, but he doesn’t have the strength. 

Strong arms suddenly snake under his knees and back, and he is lifted up. A familiar voice whispers in his ear “I’ve got you, Charlie Frown.” and he is cradled tightly against a strong chest. He feels someone check his head and briefly try to pull open an eyelid, making Virgil groan. “I don’t feel any bumps on his head, we can possibly rule out a concussion. Let’s get back to the mind palace”. A measured voice off to the side says. Virgil, feeling safe, surrenders to the blackness.

Awareness came slowly. He was lying on his back on something soft and comfortable. He carefully wiggles his toes and flexes his fingers. Okay, those work.

Was it all a dream? Is his mind playing a cruel joke by having him dream that he brought the others back? He stops the whirling thoughts cold with one internal question, “How am I feeling right now?” No fanciful ideas flow through his mind, no logical deductions force their way to the forefront, no unchecked emotions flit through Virgil’s mind. Except one. The one he was the original embodiment of, the one he has the most experience with. It is just at a low ebb, but definitely there, most likely because Thomas was worried about something. Worried about him.

Virgil keeps his eyes closed, and listens to the sounds around him intently. Sounds he thought he would never hear again. Sounds and smells that were confirmation that he had actually done the deed, and not just dreamt it. The page turning in a book. The sound of a pen writing on paper off to one side. The sound of a ceramic cup being set down on a table. The sound of the oven door in the kitchen. The smell of cookies and coffee in the air.

Virgil slowly opens his eyes, not wanting the others to see him awake just yet, he just wants to see them doing their mundane tasks that he missed so much.

Logan sits in a chair nearby reading a book, with a coffee cup next to him on an end table. Roman sits on the floor, tapping the top of a pen on his chin, a pad of paper on the coffee table, already halfway filled with ideas. Patton appears from the kitchen, notices Virgil awake on the couch, and immediately goes in for a hug.

Virgil immediately levers his way up and opens his arms and receives the fatherly side enthusiastically. This was something he has been desperate for way too long, and it feels magnificent. Patton smells of chocolate chip cookies and sunshine, the fatherly traits embrace is safety personified. Virgil hugs back, tears of happiness trailing down his cheeks. “I missed this so much”. Virgil whispers. 

Patton breaks off the hug, much to Virgil’s dismay. “Don’t worry, kiddo. I just have to get the cookies out of the oven. Be right back!” Patton disappears into the kitchen. In the meantime, Logan and Roman have come over to the couch, so Virgil shifts to a better sitting position.

“Virgil.” Logan says as he sits down next to him. “How do you feel? Do you have any pain anywhere? I wasn’t sure if you hit your head or not.”  
Virgil shakes his head and wipes his tear-streaked face on his sleeve. “No. I’m okay.”

“I’m going to go see what is keeping Padre with those cookies!” Roman declares as he strides into the kitchen, leaving Logan and Virgil alone for the moment.

Virgil looks at Logan and rubs the back of his neck with a hand. “How long was I out?”

“About 4 hours.” Logan replies.

“That’s the most sleep I have had since…” Virgil winces and doesn’t finish. 

“Yes. I know.” Logan states matter-of-factly. Virgil stares at him in shock. “Don’t look at me like that. I was incorporeal! Having my awareness scattered to the far reaches of Thomas's mind meant I saw everything. It was quite unnerving. I don’t know how much the others remember, but I remember quite a bit. I was exceptionally happy to come across the information about the shards deep within the mind, which after I was finally able to impart that knowledge to you, after you finally took a nap, you brought us back. Thank you, Virgil.”

Virgil gave a small smile. “Your welcome. I had to. I missed you guys.” 

Patton comes out of the kitchen with 4 glasses of milk entwined in his fingers, and Roman follows behind with the plate of cookies, and they both set everything down on the coffee table.

The fatherly trait plops down on Virgil’s other side and stretches an arm over the anxious traits shoulders and gives him a affectionate squeeze. “I am so proud of you kiddo, you're my hero!” 

“Indeed!” Roman adds. “Truly as brave, or braver than any knight of the realm!” He pauses a moment. “Oh, we have forgotten to do something! I will return shortly.” Roman disappears.

Virgil feels the worry begin to dissipate, Roman must have told Thomas he was awake and seems okay.

Roman re-appears, and distributes the glasses of milk to each of them, and grabs the plate of cookies and offers it to Virgil. Virgil grabs a still-warm cookie off the plate, as does everyone else.

Logan clears his throat, holding up his glass of milk. “I think I speak for everyone when I say, that from now on, we shall work as a team, because we are meant to complement and support one another for the well being of Thomas, and put any idea of the “attribute-sharing” nonsense behind us, because we are a family, and to forget the valuable lessons we have just learned the extremely hard way, would make us negligent of Thomas’s well being in the future.”

Nods and murmurs of agreement accompanied by the clinking of the milk glasses together in a toast sealed the pact. Not to mention Patton’s amazing chocolate chip cookies.

After many hours of talking, watching a couple Disney movies (Roman declared that he needed a Disney fix NOW!), and a quick dinner, the mind palace grows quiet, as each side retires to his room to get some rest.

Virgil hears a knock on his door, and Logan walks in with Virgil’s phone. “You left this in my room.” Logan states while he drops the phone on the bed next to Virgil. “Oh, yeah, thanks.” Virgil replies. “I must have forgot about it due to the uh, events of the day.”

“Indeed.” Logan says with a small smile. “Oh, and the schedule you wrote out for next week was quite satisfactory. I also gave the ideas to Roman and he seemed to like a few.”

Virgil gave a small smile. “Fine with me. I am totally over all that. Doing everything sucked.”

Logan put a hand on Virgil’s shoulder and gave it a small squeeze, “Goodnight Virgil.” Logan says as he turns to leave. “Goodnight, Teach.” Virgil says to the retreating logical side.

Vigil stretches out on his bed, still fully clothed, and lets out a tired sigh. A small smile appears on his face as he is comforted by the fact that he is no longer alone, and his famILY is back. Tomorrow will start with a cheerful Patton (who Virgil is 99% sure is planning a “Our Hero" party), knocking on the door with a call to breakfast, and all will restart anew, with an already in the works triumphant return of the Sander Sides videos.

He is content in the knowledge that he is once more Thomas's “Good old worry wort" and that is good enough for him.

Virgil glances at the harlequin mask on the wall, and his eyes widen as he sees a purple glow in the eyes of the mask that fades slowly back to black.

Virgil blinks and shakes his head and grabs his headphones, slips them on, and pulls up his favorite audiobook on his ipod. “Pirate-ninjas.” He whispers and chuckles. One of his favorite parts.

**Author's Note:**

> After reading virmillion's fic on tumblr, "Just in Case", I was plagued with the first paragraph popping up and rolling around im my head. Then the idea for the rest of the fic sort of materialized. Short, but that's the way I roll, apparently.


End file.
